SALISBURY, N.C. — Duke Energy is reaching out to hundreds of people all over the state who've been warned by health officials not to drink their well water.
That warning came after state officials tested wells next to the company's coal ash ponds.
Residents near coal ash ponds worried about drinking water
Eyewitness News reporter Tina Terry learned the company is already preparing to help those families if it's found Duke Energy is responsible.
Families in the area of the Duke Energy's Buck Steam Station recently learned their wells are contaminated.
Duke energy has started offering many of them water and is preparing to do much more.
Joann Thomas' received a letter last week warning her family not to drink or cook with the well water they've been drinking for decades.
"He has had prostate cancer," Thomas said. "I've had (a) tumor followed by radiation and we wonder where all this came from."
The Thomas family said their property is a few hundred feet away from a coal ash site at the Buck Steam Station.
State health officials said they're currently doing more tests to find out if contamination in her well and in others across the state was caused by Duke Energy.
In the meantime, Duke Energy said it's contacting families like the Thomases and offering bottled water to those who request it.
The company is considering building "a water line or more permanent solution" if further testing shows "wells have been influenced by plant operations," a Duke Energy spokesperson said.
That is an offer Thomas said comes late and she's already reached out to an attorney for guidance, along with others in her neighborhood.
But she said connecting the community to county water would alleviate a lot of stress.
"I think it would be good to have that don't and it's a necessity to have those," Thomas said.
The Thomas family said it hasn't received an offer from Duke Energy to provide the family members with water.
Duke Energy officials said they've sent out letters and they're making personal phone calls and the Thomas' notice should be on the way.
Duke Energy also announced plans Wednesday to build fully lined coal ash landfills at its plants near the Dan River and in Wilmington.
The facility in Eden was the site of last year’s massive coal ash spill into the Dan River.
The proposed landfills will be in addition to the off-site locations Duke Energy submitted to the state regulators last November.
Read more top trending stories on wsoctv.com:
- Mom who slapped son for throwing rocks at cops speaks out
- Gaston Co. commissioners approve lifetime benefits for themselves
- Deputies investigating after possible hit list found in school bathroom
- Health officials say CMC patient tested negative for Ebola
- School board blamed for falling home values in Union County
WSOC
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
